


warmth

by emily_420



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Other, kiyoshi's pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 11:03:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2730065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emily_420/pseuds/emily_420
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A stranger falls asleep on Kiyoshi while he's on the train, and he takes it from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	warmth

**Author's Note:**

> there was some kind of AU list post on tumblr and i decided to do this "you fell asleep on me on the subway but you're kinda cute so who cares" one...
> 
> also important: if you're wondering why i'm using they pronouns for mukkun it's because i think kiyoshi, especially older kiyoshi, would be a Good Egg who doesn't arbitrarily gender people. there's also my agender mukkun headcanon, but that doesn't really come into play here
> 
> ALSO also important: if you're wondering why takao and kiyoshi are friends it's because i saw [this](http://bansigh.tumblr.com/post/104320779530/iliata-source)
> 
> russian translation available [here](https://ficbook.net/readfic/3469919)

Kiyoshi stepped slowly onto the train, pretty tired after his morning and ready to get home. The car he was in was really full, but that was to be expected, at around eleven in the morning in Tokyo; there weren’t many seats left and a number of people were standing to avoid sitting next to a stranger. Kiyoshi’s feet hurt though, and his bag was heavy on his shoulder so he wasn’t going to bother with that; the closest seat he could see was next to an alarmingly large, alarmingly purple-haired person. He carefully made his way over and settled into the seat next to them, resting his bag at his feet and sighing in relief.

He had about fifteen minutes until he was due to reach his stop, so he relaxed in the mildly uncomfortable seat and let his mind wander. There wasn’t much to do on a train, not really, especially when he didn’t have a book with him, but he could easily settle on people-watching and not have any problem with it and so that’s what he was doing. In the car with him were a lot of different people who were interesting to observe, which he did quietly, minding his own business. Two stops later, while passengers were slowly filing out of the train and to Kiyoshi’s surprise, he felt the head of the stranger he was next to loll and rest against the top of his own.

Kiyoshi wasn’t really sure what to do; it wasn’t the first time someone had fallen asleep on him but it was certainly the first time a stranger had. The experience was made even more unprecedented by the fact that the person slumped against him was actually taller than him. It made Kiyoshi feel odd, smaller than normal and kind of secure; the purple-haired person smelt faintly sweet, like the kitchen in his house whenever his grandma baked.

The train started moving again and Kiyoshi wondered what he ought to do. Not that he minded letting them sleep on him – they were pretty cute, actually, come to think of it – but he’d hate for them to miss their stop because he hadn’t bothered to wake them up. But... there were strands of soft purple hair tickling Kiyoshi’s forehead... It was really a shame.

Shuffling back in his seat a little, Kiyoshi turned slightly and brought his right hand up to the sleeping person’s shoulder, shaking gently. They didn’t stir, so he tried again, this time calling softly, “Um, excuse me?” They jerked their head up a little – Kiyoshi could look them in the face properly as they blinked sleepily, looking around with an air of vague confusion.

“Where am I?” they mumbled, the question not really directed at Kiyoshi but he pointed helpfully at the electronic sign at the front of the car that had the next stop flashing across the screen anyway. “Ah, that’s right...” they said, scratching their head.

 _You weren’t even asleep that long,_ Kiyoshi thought, a little impressed and somewhat amused by how disorientated they were.

“Well, sorry for falling asleep on you, I guess,” they said just before stifling a yawn, not really sounding apologetic at all.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Kiyoshi said, a smile tugging at his lips. “Big morning?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking; something about them was really interesting, and it had nothing to do with their violently purple hair and a lot more to do with their droopy eyes and strawberry patterned scarf.

“Yeah,” they muttered, “well, no, I just had work, but...” A stricken look crossed their face. “I had to knead most of the bread myself... It’s cruel, you know?”

“I think I understand,” Kiyoshi laughed. “Do you work at a bakery, then? Must have started early.”

“Mmm, that’s right...” they said, narrowing their eyes at him, then: “Do I know you?”

“Um...” Were they serious? “No? I’ve never seen you before.”

“Ah, okay then,” they went back to gazing idly out the window. “Just you were talking in such a friendly way I thought maybe I’d met you once and forgot.” Kiyoshi didn’t think he’d made a face after that, and he tried not to, so maybe they’d sensed a general mood from him or maybe they got it a lot, but, either way, they added defensively, “It happens.”

“I’m sure it does,” Kiyoshi said blandly, and they huffed, shifting a bit.

The conversation naturally fell there, and Kiyoshi wasn’t one to force things, so he settled back and answered some texts on his phone, eventually and somewhat inevitably getting into a heated debate with Takao – a friend from university – over the relative benefits of investing in a waffle iron.

“Hey,” he said abruptly to the person next to him who’d just started to look like they’d nod off again, “what do you think about waffle irons? Worth it?” (Takao was being stubborn, insisting that if he had the thing he’d use it all the time but Kiyoshi wasn’t buying it. Usually with Takao it helped to have a second opinion in these situations, and this person seemed to be into food, at least a little bit, so Kiyoshi was trying his luck.)

“Mm, yeah. Definitely,” they replied surprisingly quickly, sounding almost uncharacteristically certain of themself. 

“Okay,” Kiyoshi said in a measured voice, leaning forward, “but how often do you think you’d use one if you had it, realistically?”

They looked upwards for a moment, humming a little. “At least three times a month.”

“Right,” Kiyoshi said, then, a little absently and he turned his attention back to his phone, “thanks.”

 _Okay, this person I’m next to on the train agrees with you, but I reckon you’d only use yours, like, three times ever, Takao,_ Kiyoshi typed; the purple-haired person didn’t seem to care why he’d asked such a strange question an Kiyoshi wondered at the fact that there didn’t appear to be a limit to how relaxed a person could be

Almost immediately, he got a reply from Takao: _id totally use it!! what makes u say i wouldn’t?!_

 _Because that’s the kind of person you are,_ Kiyoshi sent.

He was in the middle of telling Takao that he _knew_ about the other’s stash of things he’d hardly ever used when the person next to him apparently fell asleep again, their head drooping down to rest on his own. Pausing in what he was typing, Kiyoshi murmured, “Hey,” jostling them a little.

“M’awake,” they said immediately, jerking up; Kiyoshi laughed a little.

“Where do you get off?” Kiyoshi asked, looking up at them, as they slowly rubbed at one of their eyes. “If you fall asleep again I can just wake you up when we get there.”

Their stop happened to be the same as Kiyoshi’s, and they shortly introduced themself as Murasakibara (of course, Kiyoshi thought wryly). After that they seemed to give up on consciousness altogether; once asleep, they slumped into Kiyoshi’s side, head on top of his and purple hair tickling his temple yet again.

Warm and comfortable and maybe just a little pinker in the face than usual, Kiyoshi settled in and continued texting on his phone, a private sort of smile quirking his lips. The two of them stayed like that until they were nearly at their stop, in this small bubble of warmth that Kiyoshi honestly found to be really cozy, somehow soothing and thrilling at the same time.

Unfortunately, their stop came quickly and Kiyoshi had to wake Murasakibara up.

“Ah,” they said once awake, “sorry... again. You’re a good height for sleeping on.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kiyoshi reassured them, smiling and thinking, _it wasn’t an inconvenience at all, though._

They both stood up, carefully walking to the exit as the train gradually came to a halt. After exiting, and once they were apart from the crowd a bit, Kiyoshi turned to look at Murasakibara, who was walking more slowly and lagging behind, and asked, “Hey, if you’re not doing anything, do you want to get some coffee with me?”

“Coffee?” they said blandly, then, “Okay.”

They fell into step and while Kiyoshi knew that they were probably just in it for the caffeine, he was hoping to cultivate at least a little bit of interest in him before they were done.

(Miraculously, he did, and that was only the beginning.)

**Author's Note:**

> don't talk to strangers, kids


End file.
